Ugandan man caught smuggling 16.5kg of cocaine into Thailand
Immigration Bureau officers yesterday arrested a Ugandan man in the southern province of Songkhla for smuggling 16.5 kilogrammes of cocaine from Malaysia into Thailand.
Songkhla Provincial Immigration Bureau officers yesterday, March 25, received a tip-off about a suspicious Ugandan national, 29 year old Kasim, and closely monitored him while he was staying at a hotel in the Hat Yai district of Songkhla. Kasim later left the hotel carrying suspicious luggage, prompting police to summon him for further questioning.
Officers requested to check his passport and found that it did not contain an arrival stamp. They then escorted him to the immigration office for processing regarding his illegal entry and conducted a further search of his luggage.
Immigration officers reported that the suitcase was unusually heavy, and their suspicions were confirmed upon inspection. Cocaine was found concealed in multiple items within the luggage, including a backpack, a shirt, a picture frame, and car spare parts.
A total of 41 packs of cocaine, weighing 16.5 kilogrammes, were discovered in Kasim’s possession. The drugs could have yielded profits of up to 30 million baht for the dealer.
The Ugandan man eventually confessed that a friend had invited him to work in Malaysia. He was then hired to smuggle the drugs from Malaysia to Thailand for US$1,000 (approximately 34,000 baht). His employer arranged the route and vehicles, while his role was simply to transport the drugs at each stage.
Kasim stated that he entered Thailand via Narathiwat province, travelled to Songkhla, and planned to book a coach to Bangkok.
The foreign national faces two charges:
- Section 146 of the Narcotics Act: Importing a Category 2 drug into the country which carries a penalty of up to 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to 1 million baht.
- Section 81 of the Immigration Act: Entering or staying in the Kingdom of Thailand without permission or with expired permission, which carries a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to 20,000 baht.
In a related case involving Ugandan nationals, police officers in Phuket arrested five Ugandan sex workers on Sunday, March 23. They were found offering sex services on Bangla Road and now face deportation.
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